Social Media & SEO.

I've discussed our approach to social media marketing & why we think it so important. In response to a tweet by Chris Brogan I also illustrated why I felt SEO was more important than ever and how SEO & Social Media work together.

Has anyone ever said to you, "I think I just googled..." or "Just do a search for..." ? They say it to me all the time. Maybe that's just a reflection of the company I keep.

How good is your memory? Can you remember this URL? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lp0IWv8QZY It's the Susan Boyle video. Why should I walk back to my desk and copy and paste & send you that link when you can just Google her name? Or how about "Saw a funny video on Youtube the other night, I think I was searching for...." ? Whilst I spend far too much time online I often say those things to people in the real world. I talk to people I meet all the time, (most of them don't appreciate it). There was a bloke at Sydney Airport last night who I overheard say to a mate "Nah can't download music on my Mac there not much software around for them being a Mac" . I just told him to Google Cabos or opensource mac. There's a heap of stuff.

That is why SEO is more important than ever. We are connecting more, we're sharing more & search is the gateway to new discoveries.

The more you are involved in Social Media the more opportunities you have of others connecting with you via the replacement of the Yellow Pages. The Search Engine.

SEO is important

Chris Brogan posed the question a few moments ago on Twitter "Is SEO *AS* important". I completely understand the not so subtle emphasis on "as". The implication Chris is making here, is that it's probably still important but not as much as it used to be. With the rise of social media (whatever that is defined as this week) I have had conversations like this before with clients. I would argue that it is now more important than ever.

Trust agents, trusted networks etc are of course monumentally important but if one of my mates starts asking me questions and wants recommendations about a product or service BEFORE they've done their own homework, I'll explain I am not their Google bitch. Google it yourself first, get some information, then if you still want my opinion, let's talk. Search engines drive the bulk of traffic on the web. Consider Google Social Search. If you are not keyword optimising your social media presence you are not going to turn up when I search my network for a particular phrase.

SEO is about discovery. If I can't find what I want in Google I'll then go to my social networks, as I did earlier in the year when I vlogged Twitter is bigger than Google

Have a look at these numbers from Google on the amount of searches for the phrase "Social Media"

 

More people than ever are searching for that phrase. If you are selling Social Media services of course you want word of mouth recommendations but what about those people looking for a solution, right now that you can provide.
Think of SEO as having the best shelf space in the supermarket. Who doesn't like discovering something new & sharing (or in my case bragging about) that discovery with their friends? It's human nature.

Here's the kicker though. We can accurately measure the return on investment of SEO activities. How do I do that with Social Media? We can tell you what a word is worth in $ terms to your business. Once you have setup SEO publishing KPIs for your online properties, the search engines will continue to send you new visitors OUTSIDE your current social circles. This is incredibly important as detailed in the doco "How Kevin Bacon Cured Cancer". The most important & valuable connections are the ones on the fringe of your networks. As they will help you connect to other networks you would not have otherwise been exposed to. The old "you tell 10 people and they tell 10 people, then they tell 10 people" promotion technique doesn't work. The reason being is that there is a lot of cross over in those networks. Basically the same people get told the same message a number of times.

SEO is one way to open up your message to people who otherwise didn't know you existed AND if you have  good social media strategy in place perhaps you will become one of their trust agents that they introduce to their networks.

What do you think? Can social media become insular? How do you measure the return to your business on social media activities?